Mediterranean diet also protects against diabetes: study

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — The Mediterranean diet, which is famously beneficial for the cardiovascular system, also helps protect against diabetes, according to a paper published online Thursday by the British Medical Journal.

The mainstays of the Mediterranean diet are olive oil, fish, grains, fruit, nuts and vegetables, usually supplemented by a modest amount of red wine. Meat and dairy products have only a minor role.

Researchers at the University of Navarra in northern Spain recruited 13,753 people with graduate-level education between December 1999 and November 2007 and who had no history of diabetes when they were enrolled.

Their health and dietary habits were then tracked in detail over the following months and years.

During the follow-up period -- an...